How to set up a custom email with Heroku

Question

I'm somewhat new to this problem so sorry if this is an obvious question. I am building a website for a client which is hosted on Heroku. The client previously had the old website hosted on HostGator. The Domain name was purchased from GoDaddy. The client has a custom email domain (ex. @client.ca). Today I transferred the new website domain from HostGator to Heroku, and everything seems to be working well except the emails. The "@client.ca" emails no longer work. From what I gather, I have to point Heroku towards the Host Gator IP Address in order for the emails to work. I'm not exactly sure how to do this. Does anyone have a solution for this? Thanks!

Answer 1

You need a DNS service like dnsmadeeasy or others mentioned on heroku. From there you need to distribute the different records, e.g. ANAME and CNAME to heroku, CNAME to external asset hosts like cloudfront, MX (and A) to email host.

Am myself in the process of dealing with the "email problem":

1. (easier) The registrar (domain name provider) offers email hosting, but does not offer ANAME or ALIAS records (common): You can point the nameservers to the DNS service and then point the email back to your registrar. Found registrars quite helpful in general with helping if you need config details.

2. (more annoying) The registrar does not offer email hosting in the first place or has an all or nothing policy re nameservers (everything with them, or nothing with them, like e.g. easily). In this case you have to find an independent email host. Any recommendations? The setup is analogue.

3. (perfect) Your registrar offers ANAME or ALIAS records and email hosting. Lucky you!